Kidney and Urinary Tract Flashcards
(35 cards)
What is the urinary tract comprised of?
Kidneys
Ureters
Urinary bladder
Urethra
What is the kidney surrounded by?
Dense fibrous capsule
Outside capsule is a fascial pouch (renal fascia) containing peri-renal adipose tissue
Where does the right kidney’s superior pole lie? what about the left
Right at 11th intercostal space and left at 11th rib so the right kidney is usually slightly lower
Where does the hilum tend to lie?
About level of L1
What nerves supply the kidneys posteriorly?
11th intercostal and subcostal nerves
Iliohypogastric nerve
Ilioinguinal nerve
What is anterior and left to the kidneys?
Stomach
Pancreas
Spleen
Splenic flexure
Where do kidneys get their blood supply?
Renal arteries - short direct branches from abdominal aorta
What drives ultrafilteration by glomerular capillaries?
Blood pressure
Where do renal veins drain into?
Inferior vena cava
What is the structure of the kidney?
Cortex - granular looking because of random organisation
Medulla - striated because of radial arrangement of tubules and micro vessels
Kidney is multilobar
How does each lobe drain?
Through it’s own papilla and calyx
Where are the ureters found?
Run vertically down the posterior abdominal wall in the vertical plane of the tips of the transverse processes of the lumbar vertebrae and then run anteromedially into the bladder at the level of the ischial spine
What vessels supply the ureters?
All major vessels of the abdomen: renal arterial branch, testicular or ovarial arterial branch, small branches of aorta, external and internal iliac arterial branches
Where are the three sites of ureteric constriction?
Pelviureteric junction - 1st
Where ureter crosses pelvic brim (pelvic inlet) - 2nd
Entrance to bladder - 3rd
What are the contriction sites of the ureter?
Sites of renal colic caused by kidney stones attempting to pass
How is urine transported through the ureter?
By peristalsis of their smooth muscle walls, and open obliquely through bladder wall
What does the bladder look like?
Triangular pyramid with apex pointing anteriorly and base posteriorly
How many layers does the bladder have? What is it lined by?
3 Layer epithelium lined by urothelium
What is the cell turnover rate of the bladder
Very slow
What do the large luminal cells in the bladder have that makes them good at their job?
Highly specialised low permeability luminal membrane that prevents dissipation of urine-plasma gradients
What are the two different urinary sphincters?
Sphincter vesicae - internal sphincter - smooth muscle
Sphincter urethrae - external sphincter - straited muscle
Where is the sphincter vesicae found?
At neck of bladder
Where is sphincter urethrae found?
In perineum
How is the sphincter vesicae relaxed and contracted?
Relaxed by PNS and contracts by sympathetic NS
REFLEX action - to bladder wall tension
